Illustrator Ron Garnett, whose renderings have been the first vision of complex projects for literally hundreds of Haskell clients, has been named the recipient of the 2023 Engdahl Award, given annually to a team member who has provided leadership and made significant contributions to design excellence.

Now in his 40th year with the company, Garnett has contributed to the conceptual design of scores of projects, combining the skills of a fine artist with a keen sense of architectural design.

“His work, in some ways, has been the face of the company,” Executive Vice President and CFO Brad Slappey said on behalf of the selection committee. “His illustrations have often been featured on proposal covers and served as the first impression to customers. He is both a talented renderer and a tremendous design resource for studying and developing project design alternatives with an ability to fill in the blanks with minimal information or direction.”

Garnett has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing, Painting, and Design from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Arts from Governors State University of Illinois. He has published internationally.

“I wasn't expecting this, and it certainly is a wonderful cap to my long career here, almost 40 years,” Garnett said as he accepted the award. “All I can say is that The Haskell Company has been the greatest place that I could have ever worked in my life.”

When he began his career, illustrations were primarily created using pen and ink on paper over a drafting table. Whenever a client changed their mind or structural design changes needed to be made, he basically had to start over. Now, he innovatively combines hand drawing, digital drawing, Sketchup, Photoshop and digital photography for extraordinary artistic effect.

He now shares his expertise, tools and process with Haskell’s Visualization Committee, influencing a new generation with his artful perspective on the creation of 3D images.

The Engdahl Award recognizes a Haskell employee who has provided leadership and made significant contributions to design excellence. Nominations are judged on design leadership, creativity and innovation, client service, staff development, contributions to quality processes/outcomes and the furtherance of integration.

Engdahl Award Winners

The Engdahl Award is named for Dave Engdahl, Haskell’s former Chief Architect and AE Practice leader. It was established upon his retirement in 2007 to honor his 28 years of design leadership. Here is a list of past winners:

• 2008: Peter Skirbst
• 2009: Ted Moore
• 2010: Roland Udenze
• 2011: Jimmy Barber
• 2012: Antonio Valdivia
• 2013: Mike Byron
• 2014: David Schoening
• 2015: Eric Lycke
• 2016: Bela Jacobson
• 2017: Frank Brooks
• 2018: Tom Reel
• 2019: Jeff Pearse
• 2020: Matthew Ford
• 2021: Chris Flagg
• 2022: Bob Streets
• 2023: Ron Garnett

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